Sun And Steel
by Striped Candy
Summary: Darcy being with Sif was never imagined a possibility, since it was written in the stars that Sif would be Thor's, and Thor would be Sif's. But just for a little while, Darcy and Sif are content to defy reality and fate to be together. Their love is worth fighting for.
1. Iron Butterfly

Once upon a time

they had been together,

or as together as

you can be when

most of your semi-frequent

and informal secret meetings

consisted of little dialogue

and a whole lot

of fingertips dipping into

previously unseen curves, hands

flattening across a smooth

expanse of skin, of

kisses and touching and

sweaty sex on sheets

the color of pale

porcelain tea cups.

They don't really talk.

Not much use for

it. She has learned

Sif doesn't believe in

stating the obvious and

swears by only saying

the things she feels

need to be stitched

and sewed and crafted

into words.

And Darcy? Well, she's

not good with heavy

topics. Not with emotions

or matters of the

heart. So she says

very little besides setting

her boundaries and sharing

her safe-word ("cinnamon") and

leaves everything else alone.

Maybe they should talk

more, get to know

each other. But is

that what either of

them want? It's not

like they hook up

to talk; they only

really see each other

to fulfill sexual desires.

Sometimes she can coax Sif

into talking, though, and

those are the best days.

Those are when her

eyes turn liquid topaz

and she will tell

Darcy stories about her

own childhood, about her

adventures and parents and

what she likes and

doesn't like, her interests

and her goals and her

dreams. Darcy does the

same, and it always

feels so right to

be able to see

a person beneath

the rough exterior of

Sif the warrior who

can only succeed in

bringing Darcy to climax.

Darcy likes the post-

sex ritual the most,

where Sif will pull

her to her (Sif's)

chest and shift until

they are both comfortable

under the silk sheets,

until their skin is

mostly touching bedsheets. They

will be cocooned in

blankets and Darcy is

held against, is held

to, Sif's body like

the warrior thinks she

can mold them into

one body, one soul,

one mind. Darcy wishes

it could be so.

She wouldn't mind never

leaving Sif. She could

be happy (if not

forever, than at least

for a long time)

clinging to skin the

color of tawny walnuts,

breathing in Sif's familiar

scent of vanilla lavender.

Sif doesn't know about

that particular little desire;

the mortal woman wants

to keep it that

way. In Sif's mind,

it will mean Darcy

longs for a committed relationship

with her (and oh

god yes, Darcy does;

she's fallen so hard

for the female Asynjur)

and Sif will shoot

away, bolt somewhere Darcy

can't follow her. Darcy's

lover is a complete

commitment phobe with anybody

that's not Thor. It's

never been explicitly stated,

of course; Sif's warm

breath often trickles over

Darcy's body carrying whispers

of how good she

is, how pliant and

obedient she is under

Sif's careful, yielding touch.

But Darcy knows she's

just standing in, just

a constant rerun for

Sif, no matter how

much the Asynjur says

she's enchanted by Darcy.

Darcy knows she's right,

that Sif has actually

fallen for Thor

a long time ago.

It's obvious in the

way Sif's dusky mahogany

eyes sparkle, twinkle, dance

in Thor's presence, in

the way she always

unconsciously moves in accordance

with him, forever adjusting

her position like he

is the sun and

Sif is orbiting him.

Intellectually, Darcy can see

his appeal. But she

feels nothing for Thor

(not even jealousy) because

he has Jane, because

now Darcy is not

sex-deprived and ripped

blondes with stubble and

a low gravel voice

are not her type.

She does not feel

like he is competition because

Thor doesn't see Sif

in a romantic light,

because at the end

of the day she

is the one Sif

comes to, not Thor.

One thing Darcy loves

copiously is when Sif's

voice transforms into something

special, the way it does

when they're alone together.

It becomes honey slow,

words dripping off her

tongue when they are

ripe; it becomes a

rippling river with pleasant,

breathy little chuckles and

adoration meant only for

Darcy. Sif's voice becomes

intimate, her eyes thoroughly

scanning Darcy while she

calls the mortal woman

her "iron butterfly". It's

not a pet name

Darcy has ever apprehended

(mainly she's heard of

things like cuddle muffin,

honey, babe, sweetie, bear,

cupcake, dumpling, fluffer nutter . . .

they all make her

want to gag). She's

never been a fan

of pet names, but

if Sif is the

one giving out pet

names, well, suddenly they

seem tolerable. Attractive, even.

Sif says her pet

name for Darcy is

"iron butterfly" because although

she has to remember

at times to be gentle

with Darcy, Darcy is

not fragile whatsoever; she

is strong as titanium,

as iron or steel.

She may bend, _but_,

she will not break.

While Darcy doesn't understand

exactly where this line

of thinking came, she

thinks it's endearing nonetheless.

It's gratifying, too, that

Sif believes in her

(in them) enough to

assume that somehow they

can make their arrangement

work. Even if it

doesn't last for two

more months, even if

they end up in

different relationships. She likes

the level of trust

Sif does have for

her. Even if it's

not part of the

relationship she wants (a

romantic one). To have

this in a mostly

physical relationship

feels . . . good. It almost

makes Darcy feel contented,

like she could live

off this feeling for

all the ages of

time.


	2. Frozen Flames

Sif is taken

by Darcy, by

her inky, burnt sienna

colored hair and

her sleek russet

eyes that look

like safety and

home. That needs

to be established,

first and foremost.

It is one

thing to spend

five thousand years

alone; it is

quite another to

spend the minutes,

hours, days, years,

with Darcy. She

is a spark

in humanity, is

the reason why

Sif even bothers

to get out

of sheets the

color of pale

milk and sneak

down to Midgard,

where they can

find ways to

wile away the

hours of Sif's

absence until she

has to return

because duty on

Asgard commands her

to come back.

If she didn't

have a place

in Asgard, a

job that carried

obligations, would she

return? Are friends

enough to keep

you bound in

one place, one

planet? Is anything

enough to do

that? Anything powerful

enough to override

more intimate, selfish

desires?

On the

other hand, is

one woman a

good enough reason

to sacrifice the

quality life she's

worked so hard

to achieve on

Asgard? Is running

to Darcy and

away from her

family, friends, job,

adventures . . . is that

something she can

live with? Running

from a seemingly

medieval but extended

life to one

where technology reigns

and most existences

are snuffed before

they have even

begun?

Can she

do that? Is

she brave enough

to try?

In any case,

her Darcy is

an idiosyncratic way

to spend forever.

Sif doesn't voice

what she wants.

Not anymore. She

used to; she

did whatever it

took to become

one of Asgard's

first female warriors.

That included speaking

her mind, being

just as abrasive

and cocky and

tough. It meant

becoming more masculine

then feminine, establishing

that she was

not someone to

screw with. She'd

worked hard to

move up the ranks,

did so fairly

quickly after a

long while because

it finally became

clear she was

always better then

her male counterparts.

But now she

is the faultless,

ideal, quintessential soldier,

one who never

questions any commands

she is given.

Sif does what

she is told

when she is

entrusted with orders.

She never, absolutely

never, puts her

own desires before

orders. Her country

always comes firsts.

And for the

first time in

forever, she hates

that. Resents it.

But she won't

dare defy anyone

with more authority

than her; she

is most definitely

on probation after

helping Thor commit

treason.

_You work twice _

_as hard to _

_be seen as _

_half as good_.

That had been

her mother's favorite

saying in terms

of Sif's first

major accomplishment.

While it is

true, Sif supposes,

she doesn't listen

to her mother,

who is the

perfect epitome of

what a female

Asynjur should be

like: a supportive

housewife, someone who

cooks and cleans

and takes care

of the children,

someone who is

seen and not

heard. She should

be able to

sew, hold little

house parties and

look nice for

her husband, be

nothing more than

a servant with

benefits. She should

be nothing more,

in Sif's understanding,

than what Darcy

calls some women

a "trophy wife".

Sif is not

content with staying

at home when

she could be

out making her

life worthwhile. And

with Darcy in

her life, it

is.

Sif just doesn't

understand why she

can't be both

feminine and masculine,

why she can't

have certain male

traits and have

others that are

female. Why does

she have to

be one or

the other? Both

genders bleed, both

breathe and love

and see the

world. Why does

she have to

choose at all?

Or even worse,

be forced into

a gender-stereotyped

role?

Why can't she

just _be_?

That is one

longing out of

many she never

dares give a

voice to, not

unless it is

in the quiet

of Darcy's home,

and she is

whispering how nice

it could be

if they could

be like this

forevermore.

She doesn't

just mean having

sex, even though

that part is

nice. Wouldn't it

be something if

she and Darcy

could live together?

If they could

steal kisses between

bites of toast,

make meals together,

go shopping for

Midgardian clothes? Wouldn't

it be something

if they could

do mundane things

together? If she

could teach martial

arts to Darcy?

What if she

was able to

court Darcy properly,

not just use

her to orgasm?

What if they

could have an

actual relationship?

She can't help

but frown each

time that thought

crosses her mind.

While it is

only partly official,

she is essentially

betrothed to Thor,

her future given

away to someone

she is not

in love with,

someone who is

not in love

with her. But,

god, wouldn't it

be something if

they were not

betrothed?

Darcy has a

weird inferiority complex

that Sif can't

quite suss out.

Maybe because she's

not privy to

all the information

that would help

her understand why

Darcy thinks she

is somehow not

good enough for

Sif. She's not

sure why the

mortal thinks this

is true. Sometimes

she will compare

herself to Jane,

not quite saying

what is on

her mind, but

what Sif can

hear all too

clearly, all too

loudly: Her Darcy

laments the fact

that she is

somehow not as

smart as Jane,

not as confident

or prone to

effortless leadership. This

amuses Sif, who

does not think

very much of

little brown-haired

Jane, who is

vexing in that

she whines far

too much and

does not appreciate

Darcy enough. She

tries to have

a confident air

but comes off

as clingy, pushy,

and excessively self-

aware. She is

not charming the

way Darcy is,

not quirky or

snarky. She does

not have the

same welcoming, familiar

air that Darcy

does. Not that

she voices this

out loud; Thor

would no doubt

take offense, and

so would Darcy

and everybody else.

Sif doesn't understand

why Darcy will

sometimes push her

away, curling with

her back to

Sif muttering something

about how she

doesn't quite care

about Darcy the

way Darcy cares

about her.

Sif never knows

how to respond

to that. She's not

sure how she

feels about Darcy;

her heart curls,

squeezes, contracts, every

time she sees

mortal. Her stomach

might as well

explode from the

fireworks going off;

her fingers may

as well go

too from the

sizzling electric chemistry

she feels every

single time she

touches Darcy, sexual

or not. She

knows she's definitely

in lust with

Darcy; there is

no denying that.

But does she

feel attracted to

Darcy; to the

actual woman? Could

she be in

love with Darcy?

Or falling for

her?

No. She cannot

be falling for

a _woman_. She

most certainly _is_

_not_. Same sex

attraction is wrong

on so many

levels. She might

as well say

goodbye to ever

seeing Valhalla. _So_

_why do you _

_keep having sex _

_with a woman,_

_if you believe_

_it to be _

_so wrong? _asks

a little voice

in a shadowed

corner of her

mind. She doesn't

have an answer.

She never does.

Maybe she's just

in love with

the idea of

being rash and

reckless and young,

of doing something

so completely uncharacteristic

because she is

starting to get

bored with her

life though she

will never admit

to that. At

least not verbally.

Except she knows

that's not quite

true. That is

not why she

is starting to

flirt with the

idea of leaving

Asgard.

Sif

doesn't know why

she often has

the compulsion to

sprint away from

everything she knows,

catapult straight into

Darcy's waiting arms.

But Búri and

Odin help her,

she does. She

wants to stay

with Darcy, in

her bed, in

her home, in

her world. That

is why she

is often smiling

at Thor, always

spending time with

him. Always keeping

close to him.

She knows he

plans to officially

abdicate his right

to the throne

so that he

may stay in

Midgard, be with

Jane. She needs

to work on

bettering her relationship

with him. If

Sif does find

her way back

to Midgard, for

a more permanent

stay, she needs

a decent, better

relationship with Thor,

her longtime ally

and childhood friend.

But why is

she thinking of

a future with

Darcy? Of one

on Midgard? Nothing

is set in

stone; all that

is yet to

come has not

yet played out.

For now she

merely wants to

be completely present

in this delicious

moment with Darcy.

_What were you _

_thinking about? _Darcy

whispers in her

ear, pulling Sif

back into reality.

_Nothing, _Sif tells

her, though she

has been contemplating

everything. _Just looking_

_at someone beautiful._

Nothing more needs

to be said.


	3. Shattered Mourning

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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"made her feel so /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"alive, made her feel/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"things the way Sif/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"struggling to feel anything/span/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"security. Got Darcy to/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"take the plunge with/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"it, worth all the fights/span/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"how good things were/span/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"fractured that so well,/span/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"so effortlessly. Like somehow/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she changed her mind/span/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emyou/em that what they /span/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"work. That it meant/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"nothing to her. Like/span/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"friend. She turned and/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"left and Darcy was/span/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she'd never do that. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
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p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"gave up on them /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"and left. Darcy doesn't/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"know how to mend/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"this broken heart of /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"hers. Sif completely destroyed/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"her and Darcy has/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"no idea how she's/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"supposed to go on. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"How she's supposed to /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"wake up and smile/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"and work around all /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"the desolate misery stitched/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"into her body. How /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she's supposed to function/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"properly again, knowing she/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"gave Sif everything and it/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"still wasn't enough. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"They had fought a/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"week and a half/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"ago, their very first/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"fight. Darcy had blurted/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emI love you/em, and /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"for a moment, it /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"looked like Sif was/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"going to tell her/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"the same thing back. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"But before anything else/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"could be said, Darcy/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"picked up the hue/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"of alarm in Sif's/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"soot eyes, and knew /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"absolutely that everything had/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"just changed, and not/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"for the better. She/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"should have realized her/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"timing was bad, that/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"declaring her feelings right/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"after sex was not /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"a good idea. But /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"it just flooded up/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"up and out like/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"lava out of a /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"volcano; she had to /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"tell Sif before it/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"was too late. Too/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"late for what, she/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"wasn't sure. But there/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"it was. She'd needed/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"to tell Sif. And /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"this was what she/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"got for betting everything/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"on them: she was broke/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"now; there was nothing/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"left for herself. Sif/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"had looked nonplussed, looked/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"doubtful and ambivalent about/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Darcy's declaration; had looked/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"anxious and distressed and/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"overwhelmed and a million/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"other Very Not Good/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"things. Darcy had blinked,/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"and abruptly Sif had/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"rolled away, off the /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"bed, not heeding Darcy's/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"faint pleads to emjust /em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emcome here, please, Sif,/em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emit's ok if you /em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emdon't feel like that,/em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emsorry for blurting it/em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emout, just come here/em./span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Sif had scrambled out/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"of the bed, the/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"pastel, garage mix colored/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"bed sheet dragged behind/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"her, the only garment/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"(if you could call/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"it that) used to /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"hide her tawny, mocha-/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"colored body, underlit arsenic/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"colored hair in ruffled/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"tangles. Sif's equally Stygian /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"walnut eyes flashed a /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"warning to just stay /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"away, even though Darcy /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"could not for the /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"life of herself understand/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"the abrupt, exuberant display /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"of complete consternation, tinged/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"with the steel, metallic /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"taste of terror, laced /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"with shots of . . . ire?/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Distress? She couldn't quite/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"place the other feeling/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"written on Sif's face,/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"but it was there/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"nonetheless. And then Sif/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"was bolting away from/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Darcy, away from something/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she hadn't meant to /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"say just then. And /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Sif ran from something /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"good. And Darcy has/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"no idea why. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"She was such a/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"fool to believe that/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Sif could feel the/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"same way. That things/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"would ever be different/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"between them. Obviously Sif/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"didn't feel the same way. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"So why did Darcy /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"think she did? Hell, /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"maybe Darcy was just /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"looking at the world /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"through lenses colored the /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"shade of love, with /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"hues of infatuated optimism/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px" about her future. She /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"thought that emfinally/em she /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"was important to someone. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"And, oh, how wrong /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she was. Darcy has/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emno idea /emhow to /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"feel about Sif. She/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"doesn't hate Sif for/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"leaving, but she hates /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"the woman for pretending/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"all this time she/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"wouldn't. Sif emknew /emDarcy/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"loved her; it was/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"so fucking obvious,/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"but she broke Darcy's/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"heart anyway. And what/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"hurts is that things/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"will never be the /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"same again. Never. Waking/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"up is hell; Darcy/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"now aims to ache/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"about Sif every other/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"breath, instead of focusing/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"her work. She doesn't/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"believe in love anymore; /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"how can she, with /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"the way Sif tore /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"her heart out, threw /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"the love Darcy gave/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"her into a dumpster/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"like it was something /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"to hide, be ashamed of?/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Because Sif had always/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"insisted they never, absolutely/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emnever/em, tell anyone about/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"their little arrangement. And/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Darcy wishes she had/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"let go of Sif/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"sooner. No one should/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"be ashamed to be /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"seen with her. Isn't/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"it going to be /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"absolute hell, when Thor/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"marries Jane (and he /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"will, no doubt about/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"that)? She and Sif/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"will be at the/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"wedding, and they'll have/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"to pretend that they /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"had no history together,/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"pretend like the days/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"that made up their/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"relationship never existed. Darcy/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"will have to pretend/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"that Sif never made/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"her feel as though/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she actually meant something/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"to someone, even though/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Sif did. Darcy has/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"no idea how she's /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"supposed to go on;/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she doesn't know what/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"to tell Jane or/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Erik. She doesn't know/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"how to erase the /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"thoughts of Sif, how/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she is supposed to /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"to stop loving Sif/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"with all the broken /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"pieces of her heart. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emHow are you supposed /em/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"emto move on? /emshe /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"wonders. She marvels that/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"they never got their/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"chance to see what/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"they could have been,/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"because Sif ran away,/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"because Sif was so/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"scared. She hates that/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Sif has no doubt/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"moved on, that Darcy/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"is still not over/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"her, that Sif has/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"no idea. She can't/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"stand the idea that/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she'll never be /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"to look at Sif,/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"and not remember what/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"a big part she/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"she was of Darcy's/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"life. She can't breathe/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"without Sif, but she /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"has to, and she /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"doesn't know how. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"Doesn't know how to /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"stop needing Sif, how/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"to heal the scars/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"no one can see. /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"The worst part, of /span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"course, is that she's/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"smiling just to keep/span/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; min-height: 15px;"the tears from falling. /p 


	4. Pristine Daybreak

It has been

a year and

a half since

she fled from

Darcy, bolted from

security and serenity

and the feeling

of belonging somewhere.

From the feeling

of not having

to hide, to

be ashamed of

the fact that

she is attracted

to females, and

only females. Sif

took Thor's advice

(of course he

has no idea

of anything that

transpired between her

and Darcy, but

he knew she

was grieving over

something lost). She

stole away from

Asgard, with the

Allfather's permission, and

simply rested her

weary spirit away

from Asgard, away

from everything she'd

ever known. Sif

fought enemies, learned

new trades, became

both an apprentice

and a mentor.

Her learning did

not cease, and

life in both

Asgard and Midgard

went on like

clockwork. When she

returned, she was

asked what she

had learned. And

all Sif could

say was, "My

Lord, Allfather, I

have seen much,

more than I

ever realized was

possible to exist.

I had many

tutors and mentors

to guide both

myself and my

journey." He seemed

pleased. Odin then

had another inquiry

for her: _Are_

_you finished with_

_your grieving, Lady_

_Sif? Have you _

_mended the things_

_that needed fixing?_

She paused, shocked.

Did he know?

_Could_ he know?

Was it possible

he was referring

to her attraction

of females the

thing that was

broken? She took a

breath before answering.

"I have finished

mourning, my Lord.

I am ready

to go forth

with my life."

She paused, gauging

his reaction before

continuing. "But I

cannot do so

here. Not anymore."

There was a

loud ripple of

shock throughout the

court; Sif could

not just then

understand why they

seemed so surprised,

so anxious. "There

is someone on

Midgard, my Lord,

whom I have

done wrong by.

I am obligated

by every code,

especially my own,

to right the

things between her

and I." Everyone

looked surprised, hesitant

around her, like

they were not

sure she was

saying what they

thought she was.

Everybody except for

Odin. _She loved_

_you, this mortal, _

he said after

a tense beat

of silence. Sif's

face was white,

but resolute. "And

I her, though

I was not

willing to admit

it at the

time. I deemed

same sex relationships

unlawful, but they

are not. We

all breathe, we

all bleed, we

love. And it

does not matter

if my love

is not the

same as yours.

We are all,

at our cores,

one and the

same." Odin simply

nodded, listening to

her. _For one_

_so young, you _

_have realized what_

_many will not_

_understand. Go to_

_her; it is_

_clear she still_

_means more than_

_life itself to_

_you. _Sif could

barely whisper a

thank you, give

a smile, before

she was turning

and sprinting to

gather her things,

to run to

Darcy.

Things have changed

on Midgard since

she was last

here. She knows

from Erik that

Darcy has not

seen anyone in

Sif's absence; has

not even seemed

to look at

a person the

way she did

with Sif. And

all too soon,

Sif is at

her familiar mahogany

door, knocking on

it. And there

is Darcy, opening

it, Darcy frozen

in shock as

she leans against

the frame. _Oh _

_my god. Sif._

_Is this for _

_real? You're actually_

_here?_

Sif nods. Before

she knows it,

Darcy has slapped

her. _Do you_

_have any idea_

_of the hell _

_I went through?! _

_You broke my _

_heart, Sif. You_

_wouldn't talk to _

_me. You wouldn't_

_come so we _

_could communicate, no_

_matter how many _

_times Thor begged_

_you. You're why,_

_for the longest_

_time, I didn't_

_believe in love_

_anymore. _

Darcy fixes an

icy, pissed look

on Sif.

Sif hangs her

head, in both

defeat and in

shame. "You have

every right to

be angry with

me, Darcy. I

did not handle

myself like an

adult; I behaved

like an irrational

child. I have had

much time - a

year and a

half - to myself.

To think of

what I wished

to say to

you in regards

to your declaration,

to how I

acted afterwards. The

words I have

chosen were chosen

with care." Sif

pauses; and it

looks like Darcy

is willing to

hear her out.

"Thank you for

giving me someone

to hold, someone

to kiss, someone

to love. Thank

you for letting

me experience love

even though it's

over now. I

am overjoyed that

I was able

to experience something

so true and

beautiful, and that

it was with

you."

Darcy's eyes are

moist with tears,

and she whispers,

_You're welcome, Sif._

_That was extremely_

_sweet of you. _

Sif blushes, says

thank you again.

"I was wondering . . .

I mean, if

it was even

possible . . ."

_You want to_

_know if I _

_still want you,_

_still love you,_

_still want to _

_be in a _

_relationship with you._

Sif just nods,

trepidation making every

molecule in her

body ache. _In _

_a way, I _

_do, Sif. But_

_I need to _

_heal before I _

_can love anyone. _

_And you need_

_to find a_

_way to be _

_comfortable with your_

_sexuality, whatever it _

_is. _

"I love you

too," Sif whispers,

the only thing

she is able

to say. Darcy

gives her a

weary smile. "If

we love each

other, we can

make things work,

Darcy. We can

do this." She

gives her a

pleading look.

_Sometimes that's just_

_not enough, Sif. _

_We have the _

_right love at _

_the wrong time._

Sif is choking

on air, choking

on nothing. And

somehow she is

able to whisper,

"Someday?"

Darcy just nods,

places a comforting

hand on Sif's

face, cradling it.

_Someday, _she agrees

with a soft

smile.


End file.
